Imran provides a Pakistani-Singaporean's perspective on Singapore, Pakistan and other subjects of relevance ... to him.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

No Muslims in the US, no Pakistanis in Singapore?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Singapore General Elections 2015: ten key takeaway...":I read through your entire blog and I've got to honestly admit - as a Singaporean of Indian descent - that I was surprised to find out that you were granted Singapore citizenship. Didn't the PAP promise us that they'd carefully monitor the intake of new citizens and select citizens from backgrounds that are least likely to cause conflict with actual Singaporeans? The fact that they're now naturalising Pakistanis, many of whom irrationally hate Indians and non-Muslims to the core, kind of flies in the face of their promise. It is disappointing. You are intelligent, progressive, and I have nothing against you, but I wouldn't feel safe in my country if many of your countrymen (or should I say ex-countrymen) were to come here and take up citizenship. I doubt many of them would be able to leave their petty cross-border mindset behind and would probably cause a lot of problems by insulting third and fourth-gen local Indians, many of whom have nothing to do with that nonsense in the first place.

-Excerpt from a comment posted by an anonymous reader. The full comment is reproduced at the end of this article.

I was upset – but not surprised – to read the above comment from a self-proclaimed Indian-Singaporean. Effectively, the reader has called for banning Pakistanis from living in Singapore. (A lawyer friend suggested I file a police report as in his opinion there is enough 'irrational hatred' for the police to investigate the author for inciting hatred under Singapore's strict laws.)

The Pakistan Monument, located on hills on the outskirts of the federal capital Islamabad, represents the nation's four provinces and three territories

The comment betrays a lack of understanding of Singaporean values. Where was the reader during the daily recital of (Rajaretnam's) Singapore pledge? And the standard daily exhortations of Singapore's multi-religious and multi-cultural mantra? Clearly, the reader is infected with the irrationality and narrow mindedness of which he accuses the 160 million or so Pakistanis.

Not surprising really; because 'Pakistaniphobia' is a much more virulent strain of the Islamophobia currently sweeping the world.

Islamophobia is best exemplified by Trump's call to ban the entry of Muslims into the United States (like that is going to stop mass shootings in a country drowning under a sea of weapons!). However, anyone of Pakistani origin will tell you Pakistaniphobia has a much longer history.

Large doses of Pakistaniphobia are regularly fed by the mainstream media to the general public. Consider the portrayal of Pakistan in an average media diet consisting of shows such as 'Homeland,' 'Zero Dark Thirty' or indeed the pre-9/11 'Black Hawk Down' and one begins to see the extent of sensationalism surrounding the nation. Typically, these ideas are gorged as if they are a juicy pepper steak cooked by a Michelin starred chef.

Indeed, a few years ago when a US military officer sneezed inside the Pentagon building, within minutes a television commentator citing 'authoritative intelligence sources' could trace the sneeze directly to a bio-terrorist plot hatched in Pakistan's badlands and, of course, supported by the country's military intelligence agency. More recently, retired US military officials have suggested the disappeared Malaysian MH 370 airliner was hijacked and flown to a Taliban air base in Pakistan!

A map representing the overseas Pakistani diaspora. Countries in red have a Pakistani population between 100,000 - 1,000,000 while the pink have up to 100,000 Pakistani origin residents (source: Wikipedia)

Fear and hatred of Pakistanis runs deep all over the world, including among segments in Singapore. Pakistanis live with these emotions daily. But as people nurtured under the shadows of ancient civilizations cultivated by the waters of the mighty Indus River, Pakistanis will not just survive but thrive. Pakistan and Pakistanis will continue to contribute to the progress of ideas globally and, especially, in Singapore – despite the efforts of bigots everywhere!________________________________

I read through your entire blog and I've got to honestly admit - as a Singaporean of Indian descent - that I was surprised to find out that you were granted Singapore citizenship. Didn't the PAP promise us that they'd carefully monitor the intake of new citizens and select citizens from backgrounds that are least likely to cause conflict with actual Singaporeans? The fact that they're now naturalising Pakistanis, many of whom irrationally hate Indians and non-Muslims to the core, kind of flies in the face of their promise. It is disappointing. You are intelligent, progressive, and I have nothing against you, but I wouldn't feel safe in my country if many of your countrymen (or should I say ex-countrymen) were to come here and take up citizenship. I doubt many of them would be able to leave their petty cross-border mindset behind and would probably cause a lot of problems by insulting third and fourth-gen local Indians, many of whom have nothing to do with that nonsense in the first place.

I'm a staunch supporter of the CMIO model. Singapore can never be like the United States, and this country is a lot more insular than most people think it really is. There's nothing wrong with that at all, and the fact that we have four official languages enshrined in the constitution whilst the U.S. has none is proof that the CMIO model is not going anywhere and will be here to stay for the forseeable future. Of course, there are people who call for it to be abolished but those are mostly outside voices who feel out of place in a country that they aren't historically connected to in the first place. In that case, the U.S. or Australia would be a much better option for them.

Imran is a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. Imran has lived and worked in several countries in his career as an international banker. He enjoys traveling, especially by train, to feed his curiosity about the world and nurture his interest in photography. Imran can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com. Follow Imran on twitter at @grandmoofti and Instragram at imranahmedsg.

2 comments:

As a Singaporean, My apologies that such irrationality has appeared to blight your blog considering that the person Anon is to me most likely a 1st or 2nd generation who appears to have imbibe too much the unreasoning of such cross border issues.Considering that Singapore model is irrespective of race, religion, sex, this betrays the very ethos.Fortunately, the departure of beloved LKY who clearly fulfilled his promise at Separation to Singaporeans. He said: "We are going to be a multi-racial nation in Singapore. We will set an example. This is not a Malay nation; this is not a Chinese nation; this is not an Indian nation. Everyone will have his place, equal: language, culture, religion. Singapore of today is clearly of that ethos despite the few extremities who have irrationality at heart.Wishing you and yours A Happy and Joyous Year End Holiday season

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